2004 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks--Baseball

DeutscherGeist

This is a great modern product to collect. The 2002 and 2003 have gone way up from their original cost = $55!

There is a rumor that most of the 2004 Bowman Chrome DP are chipped and off center. I am not going to open the factory sealed box I own for this reason. It is worth more sealed.

schr1st

It is the 1 per pack Gold cards that are chipping and peeling apart, not the base or chrome cards. While there are a lot of great rookies in the set, you may have to wait quite a while for that one box to be worth a lot.

helionaut

I've seen thousands of these cards and there are no more factory-damaged cards from this set than any other chrome set. You might get a run of bad cards, but it's a risk with any box, and a small one. The 1-per-pack gold cards have definite problems with chipping and peeling, but no one cares about them. However, you're probably right about the box being worth more sealed. Chances of getting $56+ worth of cards out of it are kind of low. I doubt the box will increase in value like the 2002 set did, though. They printed a lot more of it, just as they did in 2003 (which is still at or below the original price). That you can still get a box for the same price 2 months after release shows there's plenty to go around for the time being. But in a year or two it could be worth having.

joestalin

Personally I have seen more condition problems in these than in other years. I really think that topps kinda cut corners on this
product. The collectors over on the bekcett boards have been talking this product up for months and perhaps topps got a wiff
and knew they could sell it, cheap or not.

I think mint gold cards will carry a premium in the future. I would be willing to say that there is an 85% chance that all your golds
are damaged. I have seen many base chromes too that have tb centering of like 90/10.

If it was me, I would open it and make sure everything is mint. If you are saving this to sell in the future then keep it closed, but if you
looking to open it down the road I think you will disappointed in the condition of the cards but it will be too late to return them pack to
topps.

Kevin

DeutscherGeist

2003 actually sells for more than the original price on ebay, but not by much.

I have no interest in opening the box. I don't care if the next Mickey Mantle is in the box, it is still worth more and easier to sell as it is--factory sealed. The mystery factor will keep the value up.

Kevin, do you mean that topps will replace all damaged cards if I send them in? So, in theory, I can open the packs and whatever card I find damaged, I can send to a specific address? That is real neat! I still think the box should remain factory sealed. Helionaut makes a good point. There are lots of boxes from various years that have damaged cards, and this issue is not that unusual. Maybe it does have more damaged cards than previous years, but perhaps not so much to start a boycott.